December 30th, 2021 by WCBC Radio

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced today that, with the number of Omicron variant cases climbing across the country, he has directed state health officials and his COVID-19 response team to continue closely monitoring case numbers along with the state’s hospital bed availability.

“We only have 18 cases, but we know it’s absolutely moving. It’s going to get higher,” Gov. Justice said. “I’ve directed my team to keep a close watch and provide me with recommendations about our hospitals and our critical care infrastructure.

“The bottom line is that we need to save lives, protect our hospitals, and protect our ability to care for our people,” Gov. Justice continued. “It is absolutely essential that we be concerned about the possibility that we could get into a situation where our hospitals are overrun.”

The Governor added that West Virginians can do their part to lessen the load on hospitals by getting vaccinated or boosted to protect against serious COVID infection